Technology and the Environment: An Overview

Foray, D. & Grubler, A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7814-4990 (1996). Technology and the Environment: An Overview. IIASA Research Report (Reprint). IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria: RR-97-005. Reprinted from Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 53(1):3-13 [September 1996].

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Abstract

The article starts with a brief debate on the interactions between technology and the environment. A short overview of each article of this special issue is then presented. Three cross-cutting "metathemes" emerge from the articles. The first deals with the characteristics of uncertainty, ignorance, and dispersed knowledge that have historically characterized the generation and distribution of environmental and technological knowledge. The second addresses the issue of possible tensions that exist between the forces of technological inertia and the forces of environmentally induced technological change. Finally, some policy dilemmas between short- and long-term environmental preservation and technological change objectives are discussed.

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